Tide, the leading business financial platform in the UK, has been announced as the headline sponsor for 2025’s prestigious everywoman Entrepreneur Awards. The partnership will support female business owners through a year-long high-impact programme aimed at unlocking new opportunities for female founders ready to take their businesses to the next level.

The everywoman awards have become a springboard for countless female entrepreneurs since their inception in 2003, providing a gateway to game-changing partnerships, commercial deals and investment opportunities that can dramatically accelerate business growth. The awards shine a spotlight on the UK’s most inspiring female entrepreneurs, from early-stage start-ups to multimillion-pound scale-ups, and give them a platform to raise visibility, build networks, and open doors to long-term success.

This year’s event, which takes place in December, will be renamed the ‘Tide Everywoman Entrepreneur Awards’, reflecting the company’s commitment to advancing female entrepreneurship. Through its Women in Business programme, Tide has pledged to help launch 200,000 female-led businesses by the end of 2027.

To further ensure a tangible impact, Tide will award a £20,000 grant to one exceptional female-founded SME. The recipient will be selected by an awards judging panel from among the eligible finalists and announced on the night.

Tide and everywoman’s commitment to women business owners comes at a time when access to funding remains a critical hurdle. A mere 2.8p of every £1 of equity investment in the UK goes to fully female-founded businesses. This has huge implications for UK GDP, as up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the economy if women started and scaled new businesses at the same rate as men.

In light of this challenge facing female entrepreneurs, on top of difficulty accessing finance and high interest rates, Tide is also embarking on a year-long high-impact programme alongside everywoman to support women in business through masterclasses and scale-up workshops.

Women are starting new businesses at record levels but despite this progress, Tide research has shown that the process of starting a business remains difficult. Its Female Business Owners Index found that many new business owners are struggling with challenging economic conditions, with nearly two in five (38%) of its female members putting business growth plans on ice as they battle high interest rates, energy costs and inflation.

Unlocking investment is especially difficult for SMEs, despite the fact that they account for around 99.8% of all businesses in the UK. Tide’s Index found that the top challenge for women business owners is the difficulty accessing finance, with three in five (63%) struggling to acquire necessary funds and a quarter (25%) reporting this having a negative effect on their business.

To underline the importance of female-led SMEs to the UK economy, Tide will sponsor the Small Enterprise Award category at the awards.

Maxine Benson MBE, and Karen Gill MBE, co-founders of everywoman, comment: “The UK has a growing number of inspiring entrepreneurial women but sustained support and strategic investment is necessary to accelerate business growth. Tide’s commitment to supporting 200,000 female-led businesses makes them the perfect partner for everywoman’s Entrepreneur Awards programme. Together we will champion incredible female business leaders, provide practical support and advice to help their businesses grow, and create a platform for new partnerships and deals that will help to reshape the UK’s entrepreneurial landscape.”

George Schmidt, Tide UK/Europe CEO, said: “We are incredibly proud to be the headline partner for the 2025 Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards. Our Female Business Owners Index underlines the unique battle that female entrepreneurs face in today’s economy; they struggle to access the funding they need which leaves them more susceptible to economic pressures, and this compounds to stunt their growth.

“This active partnership, alongside our year-long programme of masterclasses, workshops, and the vital £20,000 grant, is focused on helping more women to flourish in business, as well as celebrating those that have. By empowering female entrepreneurs, we’re not just fostering individual success stories, but actively working to unleash a £250 billion growth opportunity for the UK.”

The Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF, will take place on 2nd December at The Londoner, Leicester Square. To find out more about the awards or to nominate yourself or someone you know, visit www.everywoman.com/entrepreneur-awards. The deadline for entries is 14th July 2025.

THE 2025 CATEGORIES ARE:

• THE BALANCE AWARD: For a founder raising children aged 12 or under

• BRAND OF THE FUTURE – sponsored by The White Company

• ENTREPRENEUR FOR GOOD AWARD – sponsored by Specsavers

• INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION AWARD – sponsored by Rathbone Financial Planning

• THE NEXT LEVEL AWARD: For businesses with £1m+ EBITDA

• SCALE UP AWARD – sponsored by BGF

• SOCIAL STAR AWARD: For social media-driven business growth

• SOLOPRENEUR AWARD: For independent sole traders

• SMALL ENTERPRISE AWARD – sponsored by Tide

• TECH INNOVATOR AWARD